Great Western Coffee Shop

In driving past Crowlas (A30 east bound) around 11h45 today (18th April 2013), a diesel shunter on a low loader was west bound (towards Penzance?).
Does anyone know where it was actually going, please?
Surely can't be a Network Rail one, as that would have gone by rail.  However, could it be for the Helston railway?
As I was driving, I couldn't stop and photograph!
With thanks

I wouldn't bet on that.  There are numerous examples of mainline registered stock and locos being moved by road.  However in the particular case of a shunter, it would get in the way of everything else due to its slow speed, so it is usually the case that they are moved long distances by road.

Paul

That makes sense, Paul. How long would it take, and how many crew changes, to get a shunter from Bristol TM to Penzance?

Doubt it was a "Network Rail" shunter not sure NR has many if any at all

I assumed he just meant a shunter for use on Network Rail infrastructure 'somewhere', rather than on a heritage or private site?

Paul

I saw this as well, was stuck about 7 cars behind it all the way from Hayle to near Crowlas, assumed it was being moved to Long Rock depot. No doubtedly I passed you, as I was on the way to the Cornwall Farmers place near Ludgvan.

Class 08 shunters are limited to 15mph, so for the 207 miles from Bristol to Penzance you are looking at at least 14 hours to do the trip. There simply wouldn't be enough loops along the way for it to avoid being in the way of every other movement.

Were the 08/09's moved by road in the 40's? It wouldn't have been much easier even then to have transported them to their respective depots. The orignal design does date back to the 30's.  :-\

There were a lot more loops and the network was used less intensively.

To FTN! & ElectricTrain; apologies. Yes, I was using a generic term for a shunter. Didn't have time to identify it.  I did note on the inward trip that there was already a shunter at Longrock.
With the advent of HST's, I would have thought a shunter at Longrock was not necessary these days?
Richwarwicker.  I passed the low loader at Crowlas, and was aware of may cars behind it, so yes, we passed without meeting!

The shunter at Long Rock gets regular use in connection with the sleeper stock from the Night Riviera.

Re movement of shunters and small locos in the past, they would often be added to a freight train usually with the rods disconnected. Even then you had to keep an eye out for hot boxes as they weren't used to travelling many miles in one go or above about 10 mph.

Nowadays because of the lack of suitable freights most shunters and preserved steam has to go by road particularly as has been said, the overll increase in speed of trains, lack of mixed freightm plus not many preserved lines have mainline connections.

Mainline steam used on specials will often make and an overnight staging run from it's home depot to near the starting point usually with a support coach in tow.

Used to get them past the house from Didcot to Southall/OOC and vice versa

And in fact, there has been a steam loco with support coaches stabled at St Phillips all this week. Presumably off on a special today and tomorrow.

Haven't seen it but I suspect it may be 34067 Tangmere which is due to take over tomorrow for the next leg of the Railway Touring Company's nine day Great Britain VI tour which started at London Victoria and ends at London Kings Cross by way of Cornwall, Wales, the West Coast Main line, Scotland and the East Coast Main line.

In fact two steam locos have been stabled at SPM this week two black 5s & support coaches for a charter this weekend.

Tangmere is supposed to be visiting for coal & water sometime next week

I hope this is not pedantic -St Philips or St Philips Marsh.  They are about a mile apart and both locations are capable of stalling an engine I think.  The one at the first location is near the old wagon repair works where the original MR line branched off.

Ooh, you got me there, swrural. The depot in Albert Road, by the fruit market, is the one.

Well hopefully not too pedantic then, as the spotters who read this can be saved a helluva long walk for nothing!

Ah, Albert Road.  My late F.I.L. was a driver with the Corporation at the depot there and lived in Lewis St.  However, all the Marsh people were re-housed in the fifties to the edges of the city.  The said Bristol CC bought some very expensive snow clearing machines from Switzerland (like the one in the Bond film that chews up his attacker and spews red snow).  The problem was that, in '63, the snows were so bad that the drivers could no longer reach the depot from way out at Brislington.  Previously they had but a short trudge down the road.

They were useless anyway, he told me, because they were designed to shift dry alpine snow whereas the British variety simply clogged up the machines.

Hope that was of interest.  There used to be literally hundreds of steam engines at SPM but, then, just a few boys on bikes would visit.  Now, they have phalanxes of snappers and video fiends turn up, just for one engine!

I live within earshot, which is not a problem at all. Occasionally, I will hear a very short toot of a horn in the wee small hours as a train leaves the depot to take up position for the first trip of the day, but generally, they make less noise than the A4 Bath Road.

In terms of rail vehicles being transported by road, I can recall seeing 3 of the carriages from the train that derailed at Newton Abbot on low loaders, turning left out of West Town Lane onto the A4, en route to St Phillips Marsh. Quite a surreal sight on a weekday afternoon, but I think the damage was such that they could not have been taken by rail in anycase.

Correct. In fact after the accident at Mexico Crossing (far end of Long Rock) propelling the sleepers to and from the station is frowned upon.

The 08 has been out of action for a couple of months, looks like its back again.

Purely for the benefit of our newer readers, and for ease of future reference, the sad accident at Mexico Crossing is discussed at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=9571.0  :(

The SprinterMeister - why is propelling frowned on? I'm not aware of any public crossings between the station and the depot at Longrock.  The public crossing at Longrock is after the depot, towards St Erth.